Star Wars with occasional sarcasm

There’s a new report regarding the (a?) live-action series which gives us some idea of when we might actually see one. Cinelinx claims that it is indeed in the pipeline, but the plan is to work around the film shooting schedules… By filming it at Pinewood between movies, which would allow them to reuse film sets. So they’re waiting until that all smooths out, which I’m guessing means after Episode VIII – and Jordan speculates 2017 at the very earliest.

We still don’t know if said show will be the ‘Underworld’ version that was bouncing around (and eventually shelved) back in Lucas’ day, but one hint? It’ll involve a “book character.” (I wouldn’t get too excited about that one, though.)

Hondo here, with a headache. I had a big party this weekend after winning the preliminary round over that Mando masked man, Pre Vizsla. At least that’s what my men told me happened. And they would never lie to me to have a party.

Back to business, err… This Is Madness. On the light side, there is Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano. Hondo would like to remind you that I did once capture Obi-Wan, and he was pretty cool about it later, when he showed up at my base looking for that Darth Maul guy. But Hondo also once captured Ahsoka Tano as well, though she later talked her way out with some cute Jedi brats. So I have a bit of a soft spot in my pirate heart for her. Vote Ahsoka. Besides, Obi-Wan won last year.

On the dark side, it’s Boba Fett against Asajj Ventress. I don’t think I would want either of them showing up at my place. Boba Fett has lots of guns, but Asajj Ventress has a lightsaber and the dark side. In my experience, I can deal with guns. So vote Asajj, because I don’t want to make her mad.

The new Mission Impossible movie is titled Rogue Nation. Paramount cleared their title with the MPAA in January, so they could have gone after Lucasfilm/Disney, but instead the companies agreed not to market Rogue One until after this summer, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Rogue Nation hits July 31; It moved up from December 25 this year to avoid… You guessed it… Episode VII. Rogue One isn’t due until December 2016.

I doubt they were going to do much marketing for the movie in any case – and an exception was made for Celebration, which is pretty much the only place I’d expect anything anyway. I wonder if this means we won’t get a filming or further cast announcement from StarWars.com, but I’m not sure what they consider ‘marketing’ in that case. (I fully expect they’ll drop it all at Anaheim…)

→ There was some scuttlebutt about how Oscar Isaac said he would be excited to work with Episode VIII director Rian Johnson, and (of course) the internet jumped on that as proof his character survives Episode VII. Now, I’d be very surprised if Poe Dameron kicks it that early, seeing as we suspect – with very heavy assistance from the trailer – that he’s one of the new Big 3. But for what it’s worth, /Film sought a clarification from him, and there’s your lesson in making hay out of Star Wars news for the week.

Jedi Bibliothek spotted an extended blurb for Christie Golden’s Dark Disciple at Random House. The Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos story is based on unproduced scripts from The Clone Wars

The only way to bring down the dark side’s most dangerous warrior may be for Jedi and Sith to join forces.

In the war for control of the galaxy between the armies of the dark side and the Republic, former Jedi Master turned ruthless Sith Lord Count Dooku has grown ever more brutal in his tactics. Despite the powers of the Jedi and the military prowess of their clone army, the sheer number of fatalities is taking a terrible toll. And when Dooku orders the massacre of a flotilla of helpless refugees, the Jedi Council feels it has no choice but to take drastic action: targeting the man responsible for so many war atrocities, Count Dooku himself.

But the ever-elusive Dooku is dangerous prey for even the most skilled hunter. So the Council makes the bold decision to bring both sides of the Force’s power to bear—pairing brash Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos with infamous one-time Sith acolyte Asajj Ventress. Though Jedi distrust for the cunning killer who once served at Dooku’s side still runs deep, Ventress’s hatred for her former master runs deeper. She’s more than willing to lend her copious talents as a bounty hunter—and assassin—to Vos’s quest.

Together, Ventress and Vos are the best hope for eliminating Dooku—as long as the emerging feelings between them don’t compromise their mission. But Ventress is determined to have her retribution and at last let go of her dark Sith past. Balancing the complicated emotions she feels for Vos with the fury of her warrior’s spirit, she resolves to claim victory on all fronts—a vow that will be mercilessly tested by her deadly enemy . . . and her own doubt.

Well, that’s an unexpected turn for this book. (…Or is it?) Hopefully Golden’s take romance here is less winceworthy here than what we saw in Fate of the Jedi…

Your favorite Weequay pirate, Hondo Ohnaka, is back and begsdemands that you immediately go vote for him in StarWars.com’s This Is Madness. And then share this message with all your crew members and friends. and even enemies. Hondo will reward you later.

Also, if anyone wants to slice into the This Is Madness server and just declare Hondo the winner, it would save a lot of time and effort.

Anyway, in the Light Side, there are two clones: Rex and Gregor. Rex is a friend of Ahsoka’s, and Ahsoka is a friend of Hondo’s. So Captain Rex it is. He might have to owe me one.

So hot on the heels of the last dustup over the lack of female figures, Jedi Temple Archive reports that Hasbro has pulled the Ceremonial Princess Leia figures from Wave 7 and Wave 8 of the Black Series, replacing her with… A stormtrooper and a clone trooper.

Yakface, one of the first to bring this to the attention of the wider fandom, started the #whereisleia and #wewantleia hashtags.

Devin Faraci at Badass Digest wrote about looking for action figures for his niece, the latest in a familiar refrain:

The fact that Hasbro is canceling one of its few Leia figures means that they’re only keeping the status quo. Would more girl toys sell now, as the demographics of fandom shifts dramatically? No one can know when the toys don’t exist. I wanted to go and spend my money on female characters for my goddaughter, but I was not offered the opportunity. Young female fans should be able to walk into Toys ‘R Us and find a toy based on the largest and most popular stories in our pop culture that speaks to them. It’s as simple as that, and when the only option is a sexualized and subservient variant – why would they want to buy that? Why would their parents want to buy that for them?

Sure, there’s that Ahsoka figure coming and it seems like Boushh disguise Leia is still on, but canceling any of the few Leia figures they were hyping just over a month ago isn’t exactly fostering good faith in their intentions.